GROUND ZERO REPORT
Follow UsIf a cricket match was won on how relaxed the captain of a team appeared a day before the game, New Zealand would have qualified for the finals already. In a mood like someone with a desk job on the first day of a vacation, Kane Williamson humoured everyone in attendance ahead of the semi-final against India at Wankhede.
Joking around while recalling his presence when Edmund Hillary scaled Mount Everest in 1953 and hoping that this semi-final would not be a two-day affair, Williamson walked like he was meant to be. As someone who remained hopeful and stuck around with his team while overcoming an ACL tear and a fractured thumb, who wouldn't?
In Williamson’s words, “Not many people get that opportunity, cricket in India, playing against India in a World Cup semi-final is special and something to appreciate and look forward to.”
Rohit Sharma, on the other hand, gave the impression of someone who cannot hide the significance of the game on Wednesday (November 14).
“If you are an Indian cricketer, then whatever the format, whatever the tournament, there is always pressure,” said Rohit.
“Because you hear the same voice from everywhere that we have to win the match tomorrow. We have to score 100 runs. We have to take five wickets. So, all these guys, whether they have played 200-250 matches or 5 or 10 matches, they have to go through all this. So, I think in terms of pressure, it becomes mandatory for Indian cricketers. There is pressure, but we have tried so hard in all these years to keep that aside and focus more on our game, strategy, and the way we play.”
The fans of the Indian cricket team do not need a reminder that there has not been any addition to the ICC tournament trophy cabinet since 2013. And they have not beaten any team other than Bangladesh in the knockouts of an ICC event since 2015. And of all the teams, New Zealand have perhaps given them the most pain by knocking them out four years earlier at the same stage.
But, for Rohit, past performances are not an indication of future returns.
“In the back of your mind, you know what has happened in the past. But what has happened in the past is the past. What you can do today, what you can do tomorrow is what, you know, we usually talk about. So, I don't think there's much debate or much talk about what happened ten years ago or five years ago or the last World Cup as well.”
For the longest time, Mumbai has been the heartbeat of Indian cricket. It is where Indian fans were served the most memorable rendition 12 years ago. While the Wankhede Stadium has now been relegated in the venue hierarchy owing to the politics of the times, it is the place where Rohit Sharma honed his craft as a youngster, perhaps dreaming of being part of the national team in a World Cup someday. Let alone leading it. But for Rohit, there is unfinished business. The reflections can wait for at least a week.
“I don't think there's so much time to think about it [his days at Wankhede as a little boy]. The focus is on the game and what we have in hand tomorrow. I seriously have no time to think about my journey and what it has been in the past. Probably after 19 November, I will think about it. Right now, it is just business and pure business of getting the job done for the team.
“We know the importance of this week. For us, we don't really have to change too much, being that same mindset as we were before the start of the World Cup.”
In the 2019 World Cup semi-final, after opting to bat first, Williamson turned out to be the omniscient one after the result. However, going by the already-existing trend this time, toss might become the most important factor. With pacers averaging 45.8 while bowling first in the powerplay versus a striking 9.2 while bowling in the second innings in the four games at Wankhede, one would presume both captains will be desperate to win the toss. But Rohit disagrees.
“I've played a lot of cricket here. These four or five games are not going to tell a lot about what Wankhede is. I don't want to talk too much about what Wankhede is. But I certainly believe that toss is not the factor.”
With the build-up done, what lies ahead is a test of New Zealand’s discipline against India’s reputation in big games. Looking at the bigger picture, a win here might turn a measured Rohit into a typically relaxed Rohit on the eve of the final. A win here will take his team one step closer to burying the ghosts of countless heartbreaks in the last decade. The one step that for the past few years has somehow inflicted the team with a bout of cramps which has been impossible to overcome.
“I think when you get to finals, things sort of start again.” a nonchalant Williamson warned. He meant it as a reminder to India that the result of the league stage does not matter anymore. But then, from India’s perspective, nor does the result of the semi-final four years ago.
